{"id":381679,"date":"2026-07-01T03:50:26","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T03:50:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/381679\/"},"modified":"2026-07-01T03:50:26","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T03:50:26","slug":"as-contract-expires-csu-staff-demand-fair-negotiation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/381679\/","title":{"rendered":"As contract expires, CSU staff demand fair negotiation"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Members<\/p>\n

Members of the California State University Employees Union march at Sacramento State on Tuesday, June 30, 2026 \u2014 the day their contracts expire. The march was part of a series of systemwide union actions launched as negotiations for a fresh contract are ongoing. Union members are asking for better pay and reduced dependence on temporary workers.<\/p>\n

LIBBY SIMPSON<\/p>\n

libby.simpson@sacbee.com<\/p>\n

Chants calling for a \u201cfair contract\u201d interrupted Sacramento State\u2019s summertime quiet as more than 20 staff members marched around the library quad early Tuesday. With the California State University Employees Union contract expiring June 30, they joined their colleagues at 12 other CSU campuses across the state to demand that the system \u201cnegotiate in good faith\u201d on their new contract.<\/p>\n

The CSU Employees Union represents 15,000 staff members, 20,000 student assistants and a thousand workers employed by private sector auxiliaries on campuses, making it the largest labor group within the system.<\/p>\n

While the contract for healthcare, operations, clerical and technical support services staff ran from July 31, 2022 to June 30, 2026, the student and private sector workers within CSU Employees Union are currently negotiating for their first-ever contracts.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are not asking for the world,\u201d said Debra Ahrens, a union organizer and library staff member at Sacramento State. \u201cWe understand the situation in the world \u2014 everybody is under attack, especially education. We understand inflation is killing everything. All we are asking for is salary justice.\u201d<\/p>\n

Their major demands for the next contract include salary raises, reducing dependence on temporary workers and ensuring job security. In addition, the workers are asking that step-based raises be fully funded.<\/p>\n

At present, the union is pushing for 11% raises each year for three years \u2014 a proposal that the CSU has not yet responded to. Meanwhile, the CSU system proposed to take away workers\u2019 right to strike in negotiations, according to the union. In a statement<\/a> Tuesday, union representatives said CSU leadership had only shown them \u201cdisrespect\u201d at the bargaining table so far.<\/p>\n

Representatives of the CSU Chancellor\u2019s Office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

\"Members Members of the California State University Employees Union march at Sacramento State on Tuesday, June 30, 2026 \u2014 the day their contracts expire. The march was part of a series of systemwide union actions launched as negotiations for a fresh contract are ongoing. Union members are asking for better pay and reduced dependence on temporary workers. LIBBY SIMPSON libby.simpson@sacbee.com <\/p>\n

The CSU Employees Union\u2019s statewide action Tuesday \u2014 which included marches, rallies, sign-making and delivering letters to campus presidents \u2014 sought to \u201cdemonstrate to university leadership that this year\u2019s contract fight will be like no other,\u201d per a news release from the labor group. Members are even ready to strike if necessary, the release said \u2014 an action that would effectively shut down the nation\u2019s largest public university system. The union has never gone on strike before.<\/p>\n

At Sacramento State, workers held signs that said \u201cReady to Strike,\u201d \u201cWhen We Fight, We Win\u201d and \u201cHigher Ed Not Lower Pay.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe haven\u2019t really done these kinds of things during negotiations for previous contracts,\u201d said Derek Cuffe, an employee at Sacramento State and a union representative. \u201cSo getting more staff aware and willing to show up will hopefully put more pressure on the CSU negotiators.\u201d<\/p>\n

The CSU system is also negotiating new contracts at present with the California Faculty Association, which represents 29,000 professors, lecturers, librarians, counselors, and coaches, and Teamsters Local 2010, which covers 1,100 skilled trades workers at the California State University. CFA\u2019s contract, originally from Feb. 2022 to June 2025, has been extended four times through June 30 and Teamsters\u2019 contract ran from March 4, 2024 to June 30, 2026. This means nearly every labor unit in the CSU will be out of contract July 1.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, CSU Employees Union\u2019s negotiation team will meet with CSU leadership at Cal State Los Angeles for the next round of bargaining. Now that Gov. Gavin Newsom has signed<\/a> the state budget, workers are hoping negotiations will proceed without delay. In the meantime, they are planning more demonstrations across campuses in July.<\/p>\n

\"Members Members of the California State University Employees Union grab signs as they picket at Sacramento State on Tuesday, June 30, 2026 \u2014 the day their contracts expire. The series of systemwide union actions come as negotiations for a fresh contract are ongoing. Union members are asking for better pay and reduced dependence on temporary workers. LIBBY SIMPSON libby.simpson@sacbee.com
\n Related Stories from Sacramento Bee<\/p>\n


\n \"Profile
\n <\/a><\/p>\n

Tarini Mehta<\/a><\/p>\n

The Sacramento Bee<\/p>\n

Tarini Mehta is The Sacramento Bee\u2019s higher education reporter. Previously, she covered education in Napa County for The Press Democrat through the California Local News Fellowship. An alumna of the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism, she has written for publications such as the Boston Globe, the Bay Area News Group, The Diplomat, India Today, The Hindu and The Print.\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Members of the California State University Employees Union march at Sacramento State on Tuesday, June 30, 2026 \u2014…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":381680,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[121,123,122],"class_list":["post-381679","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sacramento","tag-sacramento","tag-sacramento-headlines","tag-sacramento-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381679","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=381679"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381679\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/381680"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=381679"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=381679"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=381679"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}